"I think I made the right decision," he said of his original pledge. "Things happen. I thought hard about it but decided to go out and reevaluate it."

The 6-foot-4, 215-pounder told new Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson Thursday night, two days after he was officially selected for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

"I just called him and told him I was re-evaluating my decision and will go out and visit some more schools," Kiel said.

Brother Dusty is a redshirt sophomore in Bloomington and Kiel maintained that the decommitment from the program had nothing to do with Dusty or the coaching staff. Their uncle, Blair, played quarterback at Notre Dame and the aptly-named Gunner will take an unofficial visit to see the Irish play USC Saturday night as he restarts the recruiting process.

"Yeah, I'm showing some interest in Notre Dame," Kiel said. "I'm looking forward to a great atmosphere. That's definitely a big rivalry game and it should be a lot of fun."

After selecting Indiana, both of Kiel's other finalists, Oklahoma, Mizzouri and Alabama, added commitments from quarterbacks. The complicated situation with the schools he previously considered is one explanation why the signal-caller remained tight-lipped as to which programs he would be looking at.

"I'm going to consider some other schools but I'm going to keep the (list) kind of personal right now," he said. "I just want to stay low again."

No decision has been made as to where he'll take official visits to but he'll settle on the first few destinations shortly after consulting with family members. Kiel added that distance is not a factor for any school and he will be using a set list of criteria that each finalist needs to have.

"Really just the same stuff I looked at last time," he said. "There's three main things: education, how well the coaching staff gets along with the players and how the players interact with each other and if they're a big family."

Columbus East defeated Shelbyville in the opening round of the Indiana state playoffs 49-21 on Friday night but the five-star didn't take a snap in the game, sitting out after slightly injuring himself during practice.

"I'm just a little nicked up, a little sore," Kiel said. "Coach just told me to rest up this week and get healthy for our next opponent next week. I could have played, I felt really healthy. I came out here and warmed up with the guys and was running around. I was good to go, just a little sore. I'll be alright."

Kiel is set to graduate in December and will enroll after playing in the All-American game, really the only clues as to what sort of timetable he is operating on for his decision.

"I'm still going to graduate at the end of the semester," he said. "I'm on the right path and have my grades looking good and I'm ready to go."

Gunner Kiel decommits from Indiana

Another university must have made him a better deal and "the money is just too good".

Then after the NCAA does an extensive investigation they will report that there were no inproprieties.

Since: Jun 25, 2010

Posted on: October 21, 2011 1:18 pm

Gunner Kiel decommits from Indiana

Too bad for IU. It would be nice to see some talented recruit buck the trends of going to the typical power schools and accept the challenge of bringing new life to a struggling program. He's young, and things change, and maybe he reassessed his decision for all of the right reasons. But, it would be really sad to hear that it was an agent or "booster" whispering in his ear that caused the change of heart.

Since: Jan 3, 2009

Posted on: October 21, 2011 12:53 pm

Gunner Kiel decommits from Indiana

He's to smart for that. UF would be a better fit!

Since: Apr 20, 2009

Posted on: October 21, 2011 12:52 pm

Gunner Kiel decommits from Indiana

Hope he has better decision making in the pocket with angry defensive linemen breathing down his neck.

Since: Aug 16, 2006

Posted on: October 21, 2011 12:51 pm

Gunner Kiel decommits from Indiana

Coaches are able to do what they please, cheat when neccessary, and lie to recruits to get them to come to school. Let's not give this kid too much grief for maybe realizing that he made a wrong decision for him at the time of his verbal commitment. He may still end up at IU. Probably not but at least he didn't go for a year and then change his mind. I would love to see him end up at ND if that is even still an option. And yes, maybe it isn't "fair" that those other schools did go out and get other quarterbacks. I am not feeling too sorry though for either school. I am sure they have pulled an offer or two out from a kid's feet over the years. Maybe Kiel didn't want to battle against his brother for 2 years. Maybe he saw something he liked better about another school. Maybe he saw IU suck this year and be outcoached by every team that they have played. Who knows? Maybe he is just a 17/18 year old who has a hard time finding matching socks every morning and we should remember that he is still just a KID.

Since: Jul 29, 2009

Posted on: October 21, 2011 12:48 pm

Gunner Kiel decommits from Indiana

Still figuring out which college has the best payout system, with the least chance of being caught.

Since: Jan 27, 2007

Posted on: October 21, 2011 12:35 pm

Gunner Kiel decommits from Indiana

What a shocker! A kid commits and then decommits! That has to be a first in college football recruiting.

Since: Mar 1, 2011

Posted on: October 21, 2011 12:22 pm

Gunner Kiel decommits from Indiana

Is anybody surprised by this?

Since: Jun 20, 2008

Posted on: October 21, 2011 12:17 pm

Gunner Kiel decommits from Indiana

I've never heard of you before, but play for Indiana! They need you! They really suck!